Inspecting details of three-dimensional data or two-dimensional data having a layered structure many times involves creating and inspecting two-dimensional extracts of a desired part of the three-dimensional data or of a certain layer of the two-dimensional data having a layered structure. Often this also involves switching between two or more two-dimensional extracts as part of inspection of a certain detail of the data.
Visualizing and displaying three-dimensional data or a set of two-dimensional data with multiple views as one or more two-dimensional images typically requires mastering a complex user interface, making exploring such data a time-consuming effort. Prior art solutions for exploring such typically involve using sophisticated software/hardware tools, control of which requires a combination of actions using a mouse, a keyboard and possible other instruments of a user interface, still possibly providing a limited and rather tedious access to the data.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,296 discloses a surgical navigation system having a computer with a memory and a display connected to a surgical instrument or pointer and position tracking system. The computer memory is loaded with data e.g. from a volumetric scan of a patient, and this data is utilized to dynamically display three-dimensional perspective images of the patient's anatomy from the viewpoint of the pointer. Hence, the approach of U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,296, designed for surgical applications, makes use of a point-like pointer device to determine the viewpoint to data, which is visualized on an external display.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an illustrative, intuitive and easy-to-use approach for visualizing any information in an effective manner, especially information having or arranged to have a three-dimensional structure or two-dimensional data having a layered structure.